As of yesterday, I have just two weeks left to prepare for this Marathon on March 15th. I am feeling both confident and nervous. I run 18+ miles twice (18.2 and 18.21) with the second time being nine minutes faster without trying. I just can't help but think how long another 8 miles sounds! It's a little intimidating when I think about it too much. I definitely hope I'm around other runners to help push me along, but I'm afraid my back of the pack time will have me out there alone. My plan is to hit mile 20 and start a playlist for the last 10K if that happens. I trust the music will get me jazzed so I can push through. I'll just have to see what happens.
Sunday, March 2nd, I went out for my long run in the afternoon. I waited until it was warmer because I'm a little nervous that all my long runs have been in the cold. If March 15th is a hot day, which if very possible in Asheville, I may be dying. I've tried to bundle up with hat, gloves, leggings, etc. but I can't tell I've mimicked a warm day or not to feel confident in how I'll respond to the temperature.
Originally, I was going to run 8-10 miles, but I really wanted to see where I was on my half-marathon. I thought that would be a good gauge. I probably should have tried to take it easy, and I did feel like I started out that way, but at mile 2 I was clipping along at a faster than expected pace. At that point, I thought let's not speed up, but let's just try to maintain and see if I can break 3 hours for the half. Without much effort, I kept a pretty steady pace. I crossed ten miles in 2:15 and was feeling pretty good. At 12 miles, I was at 2:41:28 and at mile 13 I was at 2:55. I finished 13.11 in 2:56:22 which was a 13:27 pace! I know that probably sounds slow to most reading this, but keep in mind that my last half that I ran in Asheville I was at 3:04:55 in 2023. I have not passed the half-marathon time faster than that in any of my runs. So cutting off 8 minutes felt like a great achievement to me. Plus, even though I can't keep up that pace, it felt good mentally that I could cover half the distance in under three hours. Basically, I felt like I had a good cushion for the full and that slowing down a whole minute per mile should feel real easy on race day.
Again, my goal on race day is just to finish the marathon by the 6.5 hour cutoff. My dream goal would be to go sub-6, but everything will have to go just right for that to happen. Despite all the long runs and experiments, I still feel unprepared as far as nutrition goes on race-day. Full disclosure, today's half was done with just water. No snacks. No Gatorade. Both of which I've had on all my previous long runs. I may have felt stronger had I had some, but I was out and wanted to get my run in and not spend time going to the store.
Monday, March 3rd was a rest day.
Tuesday, March 4th, I went to Planet Fitness and did a total body workout after doing 4 miles on the treadmill. I really wanted to test my progress on my Boil the Frog treadmill workout. Last time, I could only hold a 12 minute pace for a half mile. Today, I was able to hold it for 2 miles! Here's how it went:
I walked .5 miles at a 17:08 pace. I then started running at a 12 minute per mile pace or 5 MPH. I then sped up 5.1 mph or 11:45 pace for the next quarter mile. I then went to 5.2 mph or 11:32 pace for the next quarter. For the next half mile, I sped up a tenth every tenth of a mile ending at 5.7 mph or a 10:31 pace. It looked like this the last half mile:
- 3.1 at 5.3 mph or a 11:19 pace
- 3.2 at 5.4 mph or a 11:06 pace
- 3.3 at 5.5 mph or a 10:54 pace
- 3.4 at 5.6 mph or a 10:42 pace
- 3.4 at 5.7 mph or a 10:31 pace
I finished the workout with another half mile walk at 17:08 pace. I really love this workout and highly recommend it if you have access to a treadmill. You can do it on a track too and go by feel, like but I like the specifics on the treadmill. You won't often hear me say I like a treadmill, but in this case, I do.
Wednesday, March 5th, I had to head out of town for work.
Thursday, March 6th, I was away for work, but I did try to run on the treadmill at the hotel at night before bed. Unfortunately, it was acting weird. The belt would occasionally slow like it was caught on something. Despite this, I tried to run a mile but I felt sluggish, out of sorts and generally all around crappy. At one point very early on, my ankle was hurting which scared me a little given the marathon is so close. The controls weren't working so I couldn't see distance so I just ran on time. I estimated that I made it a mile by alternating running and walking for 17 minutes or so.
I stopped the treadmill attempt and did a total body workout which felt ok. I decided to give the treadmill another try before going back to my room. I took off my Altras that I wore to they gym. They usually hurt my feet when running, so I figured I'd try just running in my socks. This was a good call, in that I ran a mile in 13:20 without pain or stopping. I debated running farther since I found my groove, but I had to be up early the next morning so I called it a night.
Friday, March 7th, I was away for work again and spent a good part of the day just traveling home. I left Edenton, NC around 2 p.m. and didn't get home until 11 p.m.
Saturday, March 8th, I am now ONE WEEK out. Today was a scheduled rest day.
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